Into the Night
by Alenor Peredhel
Summary: Warning: AU. Just a different spin on how Edward could have met Bella. Short and sweet, with help from Santanna's song Into the Night. Enjoy!


Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight series nor do I own "Into the Night" .

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Into the Night

_Like a gift from the heavens it was easy to tell…_He paced the edges of the dance floor, a lion caged in impenetrable bars. Restlessly, he brushed back his unruly jagged locks of bronze hair, a scowl etched onto his face. His eyes flashed and his head pounded with the off-key hammering of the band currently playing.

If he looked just enough he could see the annoyed personas of his friends as they saw him standing alone, even as they whirled about, loose and having fun. School dances, his own personal hell. It was not that he hated to dance, he loved to, honestly but he hated to be watched. He didn't like eyes upon him, judging and commenting. Everyone said that no one cared but he believed differently.

Responding to the plea in his head the music of the loud song faded. His relief however vanished almost instantly, as a slow song took its place. Groaning he rammed his back against the wall he had just been pacing beside. Lowering his head he hoped his friends would not notice where he stood.

_It was love from above, that could save me from hell. She had fire in her soul it was easy to see how the devil himself could be pulled out of me_. Her eyes, oh her eyes! He caught himself then with a mental frown. Her eyes?

As his head had lowered he had caught them. A girl standing uneasily outside her group of friends, dressed formally in a blue gown. Its actual shade was hard to tell with the occasional burst of lights from the strobes and the alternating darkness. Her eyes though, for one brief moment passed him, not looking, merely assessing.

And oh those eyes! Without realizing it he pushed himself away from the wall, as she turned to her friends as they called her away. Only one stayed behind to dance slowly with her boyfriend. He paid that girl no attention, focused instead on that one, the angel. How could one accurately speak of those eyes? Light, full of life, innocent? No, nothing could truly describe them. Why was he commenting on the eyes? How cliché, how stupid. He realized his feet were moving, it was entirely too late. She had noticed him.

"Will you dance with me?" he blurted the words.

She blinked, reaching up and brushing back her brown hair, tucking it behind one ear. An unsure smile traced her lips. "I...I guess." she glanced to her friends for help but they urged her with hand waves and grins. She turned back.

Trembling a little he moved forward and rested his hands just above her hips. "Thank you," he said politely as her hands wove to clasp behind his neck.

_There were drums in the air as we started to dance. Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands_. Then she tripped. Her body tumbling into his. The drums continued to play, a heavy continuing rhythm that could only be his heart. He wondered if she could hear it.

_And we sang__…. _"I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. Her face was flushed a bright red and she tried to pull away.

He pulled her back. "No, here step upon my feet," he offered. A smile touched his face as shyly she did so.

"I'm not too close am I?" her voice could barely be heard above the loud music.

"Edward," he said, ignoring the question. He liked her where she was.

She glanced up, blinking. Her long lashes fluttered down to cover the warmth of her eyes. The eyes that had first called to him. "Bella."

He tilted his head and smiled, watching the blush. "Relax."

She took a deep breath and shook herself. "I don't like dances."

He laughed. "I noticed. Let me lead."

She nodded and relinquished her control.

_Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay. And the voices rang like the angels sing. And singing, ay oh ay oh ay oh ah, we danced into the night._ The night could have continued forever with time unmoving. The song faded from his ears as he watched unabashedly the girl nestled in the crook of his arms, as he slowly danced them across the floor. Her face was still that brilliant dusty pink as she let him glide her around. There was a look upon her face that suggested she was thinking. It was painful, watching that face and somehow knowing that she would never speak her thoughts, unless prompted. Agony.

"What are you thinking?" he knew it was rude but he had to ask.

"What? Oh," she said. "I was thinking…how I should not be here."

He tilted his head. "I think you are doing a rather fine job of dancing."

She looked up and then laughed incredulously. "If this is the way I could dance all night, then I would be perfectly happy to dance until morning."

_Like a piece to the puzzle that falls into place… _"Shall we?" he suggested, the words once again forming without a thought. He winced and saw the flash of uncertainty across her face.

"I…" she glanced away. She spotted her friends and their grinning faces. She looked down and then up. Her face shuttered close, those beautiful eyes dimming.

He wanted to cry out and beg the light to return. He knew what he had said had been foolish. He should have known better than to approach her as he did. He should have kept his mouth shut, usually he could, why had it gotten away with him now?

_You could tell how we felt from the look on our faces, we was spinning in circles with the moon in our eyes. No room left to move between you and I, we forgot where we were and lost track of time and we sang to the wind as we danced into the night._

Somehow the time had vanished, like mist and fog, like a sudden burst of rain upon a sunny day. Where had that uncertainty, that absolute conviction of stupidity gone? He blinked down at Bella and she stared just back as confused. People glanced at them, the song had finished. How was that possible? He could only just remember opening his mouth and speaking out of turn and her hesitation as she pulled away. How could the song have ended? It had only just begun.

"Well…uh…" she pulled away. Her eyes found the ground and her hand dropped to her sides. She poked a foot at the painted lines upon the wooden floor. "Thank you for the dance."

"It was my pleasure," he managed. His throat was closing off.

With a growing disappointment he watched as Bella's friends rushed closer and laid their hands on her shoulders, pulling her back to the front of the dance floor. She cast him a face that bore no complaint but resigned fate.

"Thank you," she yelled and allowed herself to be led away.

He watched, frozen, his feet planted deep into the dirty floor. His mind spun. _And we sang, ay oh ay oh ay oh ah and the voices rang like the angels sang and singing ay oh ay oh ay oh ah…_

Taking a deep breath, trying to shake off the drums in his head and music of her voice singing though his thoughts he made his way to the brightly lit corridor. He mused to himself. Bella. He had never met her before, how was that possible? In such a tiny school everyone knew everyone, at least by face.

He frowned and warned his own friends away. They glared but nonetheless backed down, calling him names as they did so. He shrugged it off, he wanted nothing to do with it. The night was ruined all because a song had ended before it had started. He wondered if he would ever meet Bella again.

Jamming his hands into his pockets he made his way to the front doors. He could only remember her eyes, the way that the devil inside him had kicked as it was called to the forefront by the angel inside her. The blush staining her cheeks in a pink that was beautiful and uniquely hers. The stumble of her feet that was not purposeful but rather accidental. She was a klutz then. _And we danced into the night…_

"Edward! Edward!"

It took a moment for that voice to register, for him to realize it. When he turned it was in time, as her feet tangled with the edges of her dress and she fell into his arms. He said nothing to her, only stared in amazement as she glanced up.

Pulling away she straightened and smiled. "I've changed my mind Edward," she said. "They told me you might be up here." She held out her hand, lights dancing in her eyes. _Like a gift from the heavens it was easy to tell, it was love from above that could save me from hell. _

"_Titanic_?" he murmured, teasingly. "How cliché." He reached out took her hand, kissed it and watched the exuberance in her features. "How beautiful."

She glanced back, but only for a moment. She pulled strength to her and straightened her shoulders and looked at him with conviction. _She had a fire in her soul it was easy to tell, how the devil himself could be pulled out of me. _

"May I have this dance?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, and guided her dainty feet upon his. He wrapped his arms around her and her hands clasped like a locket that would never release around his neck. She ducked her head into his shoulder aware of those watching. He ignored them.

To an invisible beat in his head he began to dance, the angel in his arms and the devil in his heart. Complete and opposite but fused together in a way that could never break.

Then again he could feel it. _There were drums in the air as [we started to dance, every soul in the room keeping time with their hands_ He caught her eyes as she peeked up. He knew she heard it too. The pounding of their hearts, the clapping that had been transformed from the beat of the music pouring through the gym doors. He wrestled his devil back, and felt the angel surround him, fill him with warmth.

"Tell me a little more about yourself Bella," he offered.

"What do you want to hear?" she asked. Her voice muffled, her head against the crook of his shoulder.

"Everything," he answered passionately.

She did not argue and began to speak, only pausing to say, "and what of yourself Edward?"

_And [they sang_….A song no one could hear but themselves. And the world ceased to exist but for themselves.


End file.
